IUCN hails launch of XPRIZE on ocean health

Tue, 10 Sep 2013

The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, launched this week with IUCN as a partner, promises to improve our understanding of how carbon dioxide emissions are driving the process of ocean acidification, a global threat that could greatly affect multiple levels of the ocean's food chain.

Photo: xprize

The $2 million global competition will challenge teams of engineers, scientists and innovators from all over the world to create pH sensor technology that will affordably, accurately and efficiently measure ocean chemistry from its shallowest waters to its deepest depths. This information will, in turn, serve to inform decision makers on what action needs to be taken to address climate change in the coming years and what protection measures will be necessary to boost ocean resilience in the face of multiple and cumulative threats.